Daily driver
Malinois Dad
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 2,574
Likes: 554
From: Kent WA
I DD my '16 Z06 although I do switch back to my stock wheels w/Michelin A/S 3+ tires during the wet & cool winters in Washington state. After upgrading the suspension control module to the DSC module, I drive in Sport 98% of the time unless it's raining to beat the band and then use the weather mode. I average 9,000 in normal driving plus misc. road trips in the summer so about 11,000 miles/year. I DD my C6 as well and had 89,000 miles on it when I got my Z06. There are some compromises but I love having my car waiting for me when I get off work, even if I'm just commuting in traffic!
I second the ceramic coating - makes washing much easier.
I second the ceramic coating - makes washing much easier.
Race Director
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 12,414
Likes: 1,750
From: DFW TX
Little off topic does the car have adjustable suspension settings and steering , I know there is a dial to set to eco,track, sport mode
How comfortable is the suspension on rough roads and adjustable dampers will help
how's the stick shift and clutch , I am looking at manual stingray
last question how much is the ground clearance in terms of inches if someone can measure appreciate it
sorry for lots of questions
How comfortable is the suspension on rough roads and adjustable dampers will help
how's the stick shift and clutch , I am looking at manual stingray
last question how much is the ground clearance in terms of inches if someone can measure appreciate it
sorry for lots of questions
Stick is very good, not the best in the world but very good. Clutch is excellent, very easy to drive. Lots of low end torque, instant throttle, so very easy to chug around town.
Around 4 inches of ground clearance. The first things to scrape are air dams which are hinged and fold out of the way, no biggie. Not a big difference from your M3. Fairly long low nose but not bad, not much difference again from the M3
Width of the narrow-body Vette is the same as M3. Vettes look wide but it's because of the big hips and low roof. Roofline is 8 inches lower than your M3 and 6 inches lower than a Mustang. They are actually fairly compact.
Seating position is lower than an M3. M3 is a hotted up sedan. Vette is a sports car.
Last 3 gens of Vettes have been very easy to use as daily drivers. GET ONE
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2019
Posts: 884
Likes: 256
From: Atlanta, GA
Suspension is very settled. IMHO the C7 is more settled feeling than the M3 you have. It is a very calm and composed car to drive.
Stick is very good, not the best in the world but very good. Clutch is excellent, very easy to drive. Lots of low end torque, instant throttle, so very easy to chug around town.
Around 4 inches of ground clearance. The first things to scrape are air dams which are hinged and fold out of the way, no biggie. Not a big difference from your M3. Fairly long low nose but not bad, not much difference again from the M3
Width of the narrow-body Vette is the same as M3. Vettes look wide but it's because of the big hips and low roof. Roofline is 8 inches lower than your M3 and 6 inches lower than a Mustang. They are actually fairly compact.
Seating position is lower than an M3. M3 is a hotted up sedan. Vette is a sports car.
Last 3 gens of Vettes have been very easy to use as daily drivers. GET ONE
Stick is very good, not the best in the world but very good. Clutch is excellent, very easy to drive. Lots of low end torque, instant throttle, so very easy to chug around town.
Around 4 inches of ground clearance. The first things to scrape are air dams which are hinged and fold out of the way, no biggie. Not a big difference from your M3. Fairly long low nose but not bad, not much difference again from the M3
Width of the narrow-body Vette is the same as M3. Vettes look wide but it's because of the big hips and low roof. Roofline is 8 inches lower than your M3 and 6 inches lower than a Mustang. They are actually fairly compact.
Seating position is lower than an M3. M3 is a hotted up sedan. Vette is a sports car.
Last 3 gens of Vettes have been very easy to use as daily drivers. GET ONE
So are you saying there is no adjustable settings for suspension or steering ? Only you can adjust the throttle response?
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 24,742
Likes: 1,180
From: Raleigh
I’ve had C5, C6 and now C7. About 300k miles as daily drivers. All weather except more than a couple inches of snow. Temps from 10 below zero to 115. They are very durable cars. Great cargo room, decent fuel mileage. Ground clearance can be an issue but that’s about it. And no they don’t melt in rain.
Be prepared for some battle scars. Part of DD. Sadly my C6 got creamed hit and run in a parking lot at 80k miles. But such is life. Got it fixed sold it and got the C7. You will want AS tires. The Michelin AS 3+ ZP is awesome.
Unless you have routine deep snow. Go for it. Life is too short to drive boring cars
Be prepared for some battle scars. Part of DD. Sadly my C6 got creamed hit and run in a parking lot at 80k miles. But such is life. Got it fixed sold it and got the C7. You will want AS tires. The Michelin AS 3+ ZP is awesome.
Unless you have routine deep snow. Go for it. Life is too short to drive boring cars
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 4,303
Likes: 2,055
From: Margate, FL
The C7 clutch is great, light and easy to work but has enough feedback to feel the bite point. The stick itself - not a big fan. Its very notchy and stiff. I still occasionally have trouble with reverse and first. I've been spoiled by previous Hondas which practically shift themselves. My Nissan had rifle-bolt like action, it snapped into gear firmly. The C7 is similar but seems to crunch into place. Having 7 speeds means the box is very tight, yet 7th is out in the middle of no where. 1st in my car feels like there is gate you have to push past, almost like a reverse lock out. And I hate reverse... I test drove 3 C7s trying to determine what is "normal" for this car because the first one I drove was that bad. The second one was perfect (ironically the only non Z51). The last one was OK but I couldn't find reverse for a solid 2 minutes. I've been driving manuals for 35 years so its not like I am some newbie. My car (the 4th one I drove) was someone where between the last two, so nearly perfect. My wife loves the way it shifts compared to our previous cars. We had a VW and that stick was rubbery and vague. She feels like its impossible to stall the 'Vette which is likely due to the torque. You can start in 3rd gear without any trouble and the car will drive away in 1st with no throttle at all.
Ground clearance (no splitter here yet) is actually a 1/2" higher then my Nissan but as mentioned before its lower then you average car plus the long nose makes it hard to determine where it ends. Still better then the Mustang which has an aircraft carrier like flat hood that seems to never end. I know some people with older M3s (track cars) but haven't drive one as a comparison.
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 226
Likes: 54
From: Hill country, TX
[QUOTE=JMII;1598775897]
The stick itself - not a big fan. Its very notchy and stiff. I still occasionally have trouble with reverse and first./QUOTE]
I now drive an A8 but my previous car was a stick-shift with a similar issue in getting into first gear. What I found helpful was to initially shift to second and with the clutch pedal still depressed shift into first. Well, at least in that car there was no synchro for first. If the M7 is similar, then give this a try and it might work
The stick itself - not a big fan. Its very notchy and stiff. I still occasionally have trouble with reverse and first./QUOTE]
I now drive an A8 but my previous car was a stick-shift with a similar issue in getting into first gear. What I found helpful was to initially shift to second and with the clutch pedal still depressed shift into first. Well, at least in that car there was no synchro for first. If the M7 is similar, then give this a try and it might work
Last edited by pnsnkr; Jan 28, 2019 at 10:04 PM.
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Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2019
Posts: 884
Likes: 256
From: Atlanta, GA
The mag-ride is great on rough roads - one of the reasons I traded up to a C7 was the ride quality. My previous car (a Nissan 350Z) beat you to death with crashy rock hard suspension. My wife basically refused to ride in it due to how it slammed you around.
The C7 clutch is great, light and easy to work but has enough feedback to feel the bite point. The stick itself - not a big fan. Its very notchy and stiff. I still occasionally have trouble with reverse and first. I've been spoiled by previous Hondas which practically shift themselves. My Nissan had rifle-bolt like action, it snapped into gear firmly. The C7 is similar but seems to crunch into place. Having 7 speeds means the box is very tight, yet 7th is out in the middle of no where. 1st in my car feels like there is gate you have to push past, almost like a reverse lock out. And I hate reverse... I test drove 3 C7s trying to determine what is "normal" for this car because the first one I drove was that bad. The second one was perfect (ironically the only non Z51). The last one was OK but I couldn't find reverse for a solid 2 minutes. I've been driving manuals for 35 years so its not like I am some newbie. My car (the 4th one I drove) was someone where between the last two, so nearly perfect. My wife loves the way it shifts compared to our previous cars. We had a VW and that stick was rubbery and vague. She feels like its impossible to stall the 'Vette which is likely due to the torque. You can start in 3rd gear without any trouble and the car will drive away in 1st with no throttle at all.
Ground clearance (no splitter here yet) is actually a 1/2" higher then my Nissan but as mentioned before its lower then you average car plus the long nose makes it hard to determine where it ends. Still better then the Mustang which has an aircraft carrier like flat hood that seems to never end. I know some people with older M3s (track cars) but haven't drive one as a comparison.
The C7 clutch is great, light and easy to work but has enough feedback to feel the bite point. The stick itself - not a big fan. Its very notchy and stiff. I still occasionally have trouble with reverse and first. I've been spoiled by previous Hondas which practically shift themselves. My Nissan had rifle-bolt like action, it snapped into gear firmly. The C7 is similar but seems to crunch into place. Having 7 speeds means the box is very tight, yet 7th is out in the middle of no where. 1st in my car feels like there is gate you have to push past, almost like a reverse lock out. And I hate reverse... I test drove 3 C7s trying to determine what is "normal" for this car because the first one I drove was that bad. The second one was perfect (ironically the only non Z51). The last one was OK but I couldn't find reverse for a solid 2 minutes. I've been driving manuals for 35 years so its not like I am some newbie. My car (the 4th one I drove) was someone where between the last two, so nearly perfect. My wife loves the way it shifts compared to our previous cars. We had a VW and that stick was rubbery and vague. She feels like its impossible to stall the 'Vette which is likely due to the torque. You can start in 3rd gear without any trouble and the car will drive away in 1st with no throttle at all.
Ground clearance (no splitter here yet) is actually a 1/2" higher then my Nissan but as mentioned before its lower then you average car plus the long nose makes it hard to determine where it ends. Still better then the Mustang which has an aircraft carrier like flat hood that seems to never end. I know some people with older M3s (track cars) but haven't drive one as a comparison.
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 4,303
Likes: 2,055
From: Margate, FL
Two things that have helped: fluid change and shifting into first (clutch in) while coming to a stop. While sitting at a traffic light I put the car in neutral and used to shift into 2nd (once again clutch in) then grab first and clutch out when the light went green. It’s almost like this aligned the synchros for 2nd and not 1st which made things worse but helped in previous cars. The first gear thing was so bad I would grind 1st about 2 or 3 times a week. Before the C7 the last time I grinded 1st was while learning to drive stick on a Dodge Omni. Once I got a Honda I never grinded another gear. In fact I could shift clutchless in my Prelude just by rev matching and applying light pressure towards the desired gear, it would just slip in - that gearbox was beyond smooth and spoiled me forever.
Pro
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 739
Likes: 987
From: Delray Beach, Florida
I definitely daily drive mine! I bought the car to drive it! Plus being in Florida, no snow to contend with. Also it stays outside. But I did have the car ceramic coated plus I have PPF on the front. The only time I don't use it is when I have a gig, then it's the Kia Sportage. Kind of hard to fit a bass amp in the back of a Corvette! Also when it's raining hard here, I'll take the Kia.
Moderator
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 39,244
Likes: 18,094
From: DFW Area TX
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 4,661
Likes: 67
From: Ocean Springs MS
Little off topic does the car have adjustable suspension settings and steering , I know there is a dial to set to eco,track, sport mode
How comfortable is the suspension on rough roads and adjustable dampers will help
how's the stick shift and clutch , I am looking at manual stingray
last question how much is the ground clearance in terms of inches if someone can measure appreciate it
sorry for lots of questions
How comfortable is the suspension on rough roads and adjustable dampers will help
how's the stick shift and clutch , I am looking at manual stingray
last question how much is the ground clearance in terms of inches if someone can measure appreciate it
sorry for lots of questions
an adjustable suspension is available on Stingrays and Standard on GSs, Z06s, and ZR1s. It called MSRC (Magnetic Suspension Ride Control) or Mag Ride for short. I wouldn’t buy a Vette without it. My Z06 would be a pain to drive on the street without it. It’s the same system Ferrari and Audi have licensed.
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 226
Likes: 54
From: Hill country, TX
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2019
Posts: 884
Likes: 256
From: Atlanta, GA
Thank you , if i understand correctly if i dont have MSRC suspension i cannot independently adjust the settings for each of the above modes and have to rely on the settings done by the car?
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 4,303
Likes: 2,055
From: Margate, FL
